Transmission mechanism



Oct 1940- R. A. HETZER 2,217,340

TRANSMISSION MECHANISI Original Filed April 29. 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR RUSSELL A. HETZER BY i Oct. 8, 19401 RAHmER 2,211,340

rrmsnssxou uncmzsu Original Filed .April 25. 1936 4 sheen-sheet 2 FIG.- 6

INVENTOR RUSSELL A. HETZER ATTORNEYS Oct. 8. 1940. 4 R. A. HETZER TRANSMISSION MECHANISI Original Filed April 29, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 vllll O O hm o 3 Q M v m\ MN m w WM m\ m S ,0 Q 0 RN R i Q m di Lo w a '0; a J 8m S? Q NvEN-roR RUSSELL A. HETZER ATTO RN EYS 0d, 1940. HETZER 2,217,340

MSIISSLON IEVOHANISI I h original Filed-April 29. 1936 4 Shoots-Shoot .4

40.2 m I la #3 /ll /07 4 I43 I INVENTOR RUSSELL A. HETZER ATTORNEYJ Patented Oct. 8, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Russell A. Hetzer, Cincinnat i, Ohio, assignor to The American Laundry Machinery Company, Norwood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio 1 Claim.

My invention relates to mechanism for initiating and transmitting power from a source of energy to an output element. More particularly it relates to an improved mechanism and a control device therefor for transmitting power from a source of energy, such as an electric motor, to a rotatable shaft and is a division of my application Serial No. 76,930, filed April 29, 1936.

In various operations, such as fabric cleaning apparatus it is desirable to transmit energy from a suitable source of power to drive a shaft connected to the rotatable work container at low speed, with periodic reversals thereof, to wash or clean the fabric, or unidirectionally at high speed to extract the cleaning solvent or liquid from the fabric. I do not desire to be limited in this respect, however, as my invention may be utilized for transmitting power for any desired purpose.

It is the aim of the present invention to provide an improved transmission mechanism and a movable control device therefor which is associated with a source of power and the transmission in such a manner that the moving and setting of the control device automatically effects proper shifting and meshing of the gears in the transmission and provides energy to the source of power to drive the output element at the desired speed,

either unidirectionally at high or low speed or at low speed with periodic reversals.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved transmissionmechanism and a control device associated therewith and with a source of power in such a manner that when the control device is set in dififerent predetermined positions, the gears and a clutch in the transmission are automatically shifted and power is supplied to operate an input element.

My invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is an elevational view of my improved mechanism showing parts in section;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the motor, connecting gears and zero speed switch, the cover of the transmission being removed and the transmission assembly being shown. in cross section;

Flg. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the control.

- drum and an electric circuit for supplying current to the motor, solenoids, switches and brake when the control device is in various positions;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the brake on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of the control drumon-the Hack-60f Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the zero speed control switch, the cover being removed; and Fig. 8; is a-cross section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

My improved mechanism as shown in the drawings includes a transmission I having an input element 2, an output element 3 and a shifting member 4, two resilient members 5 and 6, a movable control device I and a handle 8. As illustrated, power is supplied to the input element 2 from any suitable source, such as a motor 9 provided with a gear in which is connected to. a gear II on the input element by means of a chain I2. The output element 3 may be connected to any suitable member to be driven, such as a shaft l3 which may be connected to the output element by means of a friction coupling I provided with a gear l5 which is connected to the gear H; of the output element by means of a chain l1. 1

The transmission is arranged to provide high speed unidirectional rotation of the output element when the control device is in one position and low speed operation of the output element either unidirectionally or with periodic reversals when the control device is in a second position.

As illustrated, the transmission includes a main drive shaft l8 which as shown, is a continuation of the input element 2 and is supported upon suitable bearings I9 and 20. The main drive shaft is provided with a fixed pinion 2| and rotatably mounted upon the bearing 20 is a hub 22, one end of which is a continuation of the output element 3 and the other end of which is provided with jaws 23 which'are adapted to mesh with jaws 24 of a clutch 25 which is slidably mounted on shaft I8 when clutch 25 is moved to the right as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. When the jaws on clutch 25 are in mesh with the jaws 23 of the output element, power supplied to input element 2 is transmitted directly through shaft l8 to provide high speed transmission. To provide low speed transmission, a countershaft 26 is supported in suitable bearings 21 and 28 in the transmission casing on which is 'slidably mounted a. hub 29 having a gear 30 at one end which is adapted to mesh with pinion 2| and a pinion 3| at the other end which is adapted to mesh with a gear 33 on hub 22. a

For the purpose of simultaneously shifting hub 29 and the clutch 25 to provide low or high speed transmission or to throw the transmission into neutral, shifting member 4 is connected at one end to a ring 34 which fits in a recess in hub 29 and at the other end to a ring 35 which fits in a recess in clutch 25. As shown in the drawings, 5

Q mission is in neutral.

2 any desii ed source of ,5, the other end of the gears are in mesh and power supplied to input element 2 is transmitted through pinion 2|, gear 30, hub 29, pinion 3| and gear 33 to output element 3. When shifting'member 4 is moved in a counterclockwise direction, hub 29 is shifted to the left and clutch 25 is shifted to the right as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings and the transof the shifting member 4 in a counterclockwise direction, the jaws of clutch 24 are shifted into engagement with the jaws of hub 22 to provide high speed transmission.

In accordance with my improved invention, the gears and clutch are themovement of the control device I. While any desired mechanism may be provided for this purpose, as shown in the drawings shifting member 4 is provided with a vertical tubular member I 36 which is pinned to a vertical shaft 31 rotat- 20 ably mounted in the bottom of the transmission casing and extending through an aperture in the upper portion of the casing as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. A lever 38 extending outside the casing is secured to the shaft 31 and is provided with an apertured block 39 through which a rod 40 extends. The rod 46 is provided with a nut 4| forming a seat for compression spring 6 and is connected at one end to the tension spring the tension spring 5 being connected to a rod 43 threaded in an apertured bracket 44 supported upon the casing of the transmission. The opposite end of rod 40 is attached to a coupling 45 to which a flexible member 46 is secured. The flexible member 46 passes around a guide 41 attached to the frame, a pulley 48 secured to shaft 50 of control device I, and is attached at its opposite end to a bracket 49 on pulley 48. v I

When the transmission is in neutral position and control device I is in the position shown in the drawings, resilient member 5 is under sufficient tensional stress to force gear 30 in mesh with pinion 2| when they are in meshing relationship or to force gear 30 into engagement with pinion 2| and provide sufiicient additional tensional stress to move gear 38 into mesh with pinion 2| upon movement of the input element. Upon movement of the control device 1 in a clockwise direction looking from the left in Fig. 1 of the drawings, flexible member 46 is tightened, nut 4| engaging compression spring 6 forces lever 38 to the right as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings which moves shifting member 4 in an anticlockwise direction as shown in Fig. 3 and hub 29 is shifted to the left and the clutch 25 is shifted to the right as shown in Fig. 3. The transmission is then in neutral position. Upon further movement of control device 1 in a clockwise direction, jaw 24 of clutch 25 is forced into meshing engagement with the jaws of hub 22 if the jaws are in meshing relationship. If the jaws engage jaw to jaw, however, they are forced into engagement with each other and resilient member 6 is under sumcient compression to move the jaws into mesh upon movement of the input element.

Means are also provided to supply power to the input element when the control device is in the proper position to provide transmission. While power may be employed to operatathe input element, as illustrated in the drawings, an electric motor is utilized and when the control device is in various positions, certain circuits are established which supply current to the motor. For this purpose the control device I is supported in a housing 5| provided with a Upon further movement,

shifted in response to Vided with a shaft Bl into engagement with bracket 52 from which a support 53 extends, the lower portion of which is provided with an insulating strip 54 as shown in Fig. 6 to which inlet leads 55 and outlet leads 56 are attached. Secured to the control device is a series of electrically conducting segments connected together by electrical conductors so that upon movement of the control device to predetermined positions, circuits are established to supply current to the motor during low and high speed transmission.

Upon movement of the control device to a position which shifts the transmission into neutral, a brake is automatically applied to driven shaft i3. As illustrated in Fig. 5, the braking mechanism is supported upon a frame 51 and comprises a drum 58 which is keyed to driven shaft I3 as indicated by the numeral 59. A bracket 60 extends upwardly from the drum frame to which a bellcrank 6| is 'pivotally attached, one arm of which is pivotally attached to a lever 62, thereby forming a toggle link, the opposite end of lever 62 being pivotally attached to one end of the biake band at the point 63. To hold,thebrake band in operative position a rod 64 provided with an adjustable nut 65 is secured to the pivot pin 66 which connects bellcrank 6| to lever 62. between the nut 65 and bracket 60 is a spring 61 which normally forces the arm 66a of bellcrank 6| and the upper arm of lever 62 outwardly, thus holding the brake in operative-engagement with the shaft. Pivotally attached to the arm 68 of Interposed bellcrank 6| is an armature 69 which is forcedspring 61.

Means are also provided to prevent movement of the control device from a position which provides low speed transmission to a position which provides high speed transmission, or in a reverse direction, until themotor 9 comes to rest. this purpose pulley 48 is provided with a lug 1| having a recess 12, and when the control drum is in neutral position, a key 13 pivotally supported at 14 and having an apertured arm 15 is held in recess 12 by 'rneans of 'a spring 16 interposed between the arm I5 and a nut 11 threaded upon a rod 18 which extends through the aperture in arm 15 and is connected to the armature 19 of a solenoid 80.

The solenoid 86 rent which passes through a zero speed switch. The zero speed switch, as illustrated more particularly in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings, is prowhich is connected to the shaft 82 of motor 9.- The switch is enclosed in a casing 83 and includes a disk 84 which is pinned to shaft 8|, a disk 85 which is rotatably mounted upon the shaft and a bracket 86 formed of insulating material which carries two sets of electrical contacts 81 and 88. Supported upon disk 85 is an arm 89 which is secured to disk 85 by any suitable means, such as screws and which is provided with extensions forming anchors for a pair of springs 90 and 9|.

For.

is energized by means of cur- When shaft BI is rotated, the

friction between the'disks 84 and 85 moves electrical contacts 92 secured to one side of arm 89 electrical contacts 81 secured to one end of bracket 86 or electrical contacts 93 secured to the opposite side of arm 89 rest, however, spring or spring 9| breaks the circuit, solenoid 80 is deenergized, and a weight 93a removes latch or key 13 from recess 12 and the control device may be moved to a different position.

Convenient means are provided for operating the control device from a central point to shift the gears and provide energy to the input element, brake and solenoid. As shown in the drawings, a lever 94 is attached to the shaft 50 of the control device which is provided with a pointer adapted to move over a dial 96 at different points upon which are symbols indicating the various positions of the transmission and which is provided with apertures 91 which are adapted to receive a stud 98 attached to one end of a lever 99 which is pivotally mounted at a point I00 on the main'lever 94. A spring IOI normally maintains the stud 98 in one of the apertures 91. When pressure is applied to the opposite end of lever 99, however, stud 98 is withdrawn from the aperture and lever 94 may be moved to the desired position at which time the spring IOI forces the stud 98 into a different aperture.

The operation of my improved mechanism will become apparent from a description of the controldevice and circuits shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. As illustrated, the control device is in the stop position and all circuits are open. When switch I02 is closed and lever 94 is moved so that pointer 95 is at the low position, control device 1 is moved to the right as shown in Fig. 4, and segment I03 on the control device is moved into engagement with terminal I04, segment I05 is moved into engagement with terminal I06 and segment I01 is moved into engagement with terminal I08. A circuit is thus established from line L1 through conductor I 09, terminal I04, segment I03, conductor II 0, segment I05, terminal I06, conductor III, switch H2, conductor H3, coil H4 and conductors H5, H6 and H1 to line L3. The energization of coil H4 closes switch I I8 and current to the motor is supplied through conductors H9, I20 and I2I from lines L2, L1 and L3. When the control device is in this position the transmission is in the position shown in Fig. 3, or if the teeth of gear 30 and pinion 2|, or the teeth of pinion CH and gear 33 engage tooth to tooth, there is suflicient tension in spring 5 to force them into mesh when energy is supplied to input element 2. Shaft I3 is therefore driven unidirectionally at low speed,

A circuit is also established from line L1 through conductor I09, terminal I04, segment I03, conductor H0, segment I05, conductor I22, segment I01, terminal I08, conductor I23, solenoid 10 and conductors I24 and H1 to line L3 which energizes solenoid 10 and releases the brake. When it is desired to drive shaft I3 in alternately reverse directions, a circuit is also established from terminal I25 to motor I26, and conductors I21, H5, H6 and H1 to line L3. Motor I26 drives a camshaft provided with cams I28 and I29 which alternately close switch H2 and switch I30. These switches may be normal ly maintained in open position byany suitable means, such assprings, not shown.

As illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings, switch H2 is closed and switch I30 is open. When switch I30 is closed and switch H2 is open the switch I33 and current is supplied to the motor 9 through conductors H9, I20 and I2I from lines Ll, L2 and L3 and consequently the motor 9 is operated in the reverse direction.

When it is desired to throw the transmission into neutral, the control device 1 is moved in a clockwise direction as viewed from the left in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The movement of the control device compresses spring 6, lever 38 is moved to the right as shown in Fig. 1 and shifting member 4 is moved in an anti-clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 3 shifting the gears out of mesh and shifting clutch 25 a short distance to the right. When the control device is in this position, segment I03 is in engagement with terminal I04 and segment I34 is moved into engagement with terminal I36. A circuit is therefore established from line L1 through conductor I09, terminal I04, segment I03, conductor I35, segment I34, terminal I36, conductor I31, zero speed switch 83, solenoid 80 and conductors I24 and I I1 to line L3. The energization of solenoidv 80 raises armature 19 and forces latch 13 into recess 12, thereby preventing the operation of lever 94 until the driving parts come to complete rest. A circuit is also established through a light I38 which is illuminated while the motor 9 is running. During this period the brake solenoid 10 is deenergized and the brake is applied.

After motor 9 comes to a complete rest, high speed transmission may be provided. For this purpose lever 94 is rotated in a clockwise direction asshown in Fig. 4 until the pointer 95 on lever 94 points to the high position which moves control device 1 further in a clockwise direction as viewed from the left in Fig. 1 and shifting member 4 moves jaws 24 of clutch 25 into engagement with the jaws 23 of hub 22. Resilient spring 6 is compressed sufficiently by this movement of the control device to force jaws 24 into engagement with jaws 23 and retains sufficient compressive stress if the jaws engage jaw to jaw to force them into meshing relationship upon movement of input element 2. When the clutch is engaged, transmission is directly from the input element 2 to the output element 3 through the shaft I8. When the control device is in this position segment I39 engages terminal I40, segment I46 engages terminal I08 and segment I03 is still in engagement with terminal I04. A circuit is therefore established from line L1 through conductor I09, terminal I04, segment I03, conductor I35, segment I34, conductor I4I, segment I39, terminal I40 and conductors I42, H3, coil H4 and conductors H5, H6 and H1 to line L3. The energization of coil H4 closes switch H8 and current is supplied to motor 9 to operate the input element. It will be noted that when the control device is in this position no current is supplied to motor I26 and the output element is rotated unidirectionally.

A circuit is also established from line L1 through conductor I09, terminal I04, segment I03, conductor I I0, segment I05, conductor I22, segment I01, conductor I43, segment I46, terminal I08, conductor I23, solenoid 10 and conductors I24 and H1 to line L3. The solenoid controlling the brake is therefore energized and the brake is released.

What I claim is:

Apparatus of the class described, including a,

output e1ement,means for driving said input element, a movable control device adapted to be' set in difi'erent positions, a shiftable device having a part which is adaptedtoengage a part on the input element when the shiftable device is moved in one direction from a neutral position and a part which is adapted to engage a part on the output element when the shiftable device is moved in the opposite direction, resilient means associated with the shiftable device and the control device which is under sufiicientstress to force a part of the shiftable device into engagement with a part of the input element when the con trol device is set in one position and other resilient 'rheans;xvhioh is under sufficient stress'to force -a. part of a shiftable; device into engagement with a parton said output element when the control device isset in a second position, said first named resilient means being under greater stress when the control device is in the second po- 

